Concealed hinge



PlllO, 1945. M. J. EcoNoMlDEs 2,373,178

CONCEALED HINGE Filed Aug. 5, 1944 1N V EN TOR. Michael JEconomdesWITNESSES Wam/WWW ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 10, 1945 UNITED lSTA'I'ES iPATENT ori-ice i CONCEALED HINGE 4 MichaelJ. Economides, Brooklyn, N. Y.A

Application August 5, 1944, Serial No. 548,181

4 Claims. l (Cl. 1li- 135) The present invention relates to improvementsin concealed hinges. v

One of `its objects is to provide a concealed hinge for use inautomobilesbuses and other vehicles, as well as fixed structures such ashouses, which may be made, in major part, of stamped and bent sheetmetal.

A further object is to provide a hinge of the type described whoseiixe'd and swinging hinge members may readily be disengaged from each-`other' and just as readily be locked into cooperative engagement withone another.'

Another object is the provision of a hinge of the type described whichcarries, internally thereof, a door check. I

Still another .object is the provision of a hinge of the type describedwhich may bel used on doors opening either to the right or to the left.

These and other objects are attained by mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawing inwhich Y Figure 1 is a top view of the device;

Figure 2 is a side View of theswinging member and a face view of the xedmember of the device:

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 Figure 4 is a sectionon the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure '5 is a fragmentary section on thev line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a plan view of a blank out of which is fashioned the housingof the fixed member;

Figure 7 is a plan View of the locking `plate of the device; and y KFigure 8 is a plan view of 'the reversible guidev plate of said device.

'I'he fixed member of the hinge comprises a housing I0, a guide andspacer plate I I and a locking and spacer plate l2. The housing isformed of a single H shaped piece or'blank of sheet metal I3 upon whosecross `bar i4 are formed dove-sailing projections I5. When said blank isfolded over on the dotted lines I6 shown in Figure 6, the housing isformed.

The housing is a box-like structure having- Walls is rectangular inshape and each of Vsaid,

floors (ceilings) is square in'shape. Said floors lie in parallelplanes, said front walls lie in a common plane which is parallel to theplane of the rear wall, all of the side walls on the left side lie in acommon plane, and all of the side walls on the right side lie in acommon plane, parallel to the plane of the side walls on the left side.

The walls 2U, 2I, '25 and 26 are provided with apertures 21 throughwhich screws (not shown) are' inserted to aix said housing to the doorjamb 28. Spaced, inverted, keyhole-shaped apertures 29 are formed insaid blank before it is bent as aforesaid, the circular portions 30thereof being formed in the floor 22, the shank portions 3| extending inparallel lines through fioor 22 and into front wall 2l), the square orbase portions 32 thereof, being formed in said front Wall 2li.

Formed in oor 24, in registration with circular portions 30, arecircular apertures 33. Also formed in oor 24, eoncentrically with saidapertures 33, but not with each other, are two identical arc-shapedslots 34 whose adjacent ends face frontward and Whose diverging endsface, respectively, the left and right side walls which the dovetailunits I5 constitute. Formed in front wall 20,`midway between baseportions 32, is a square depression 35 which in turn has formed in it aninternally threaded aperture 36.' The rear wall 23 has a pair of'spaced, rectangular apertures 31 formedl therein, spaced from thesdeedges thereof, and adjacent floor 2li. Rear wall 23 also has a pairof rectangular notches 38formed therein at the side edges thereof,adjacent ceiling 22.

Guide plate I yI is a square piece of sheet metal Whose dimensionsenable it to lit snugly into the center compartment of the housing,adjacent, and parallel to, floor 24. Said plate is provided at its rearedge, with two spaced rectangular projections 40 which correspond insize and location to rear wall apertures 31.

Formed in guide plate II, and opening at the front edge thereof, are twoslots 4I and e2. Slot 4I lies parallel with the side edges ci said guideplate, its longitudinal axis intersecting at .right angles the axis ofone of the two circular apertures 33. The width of slot 4I correspondsto the diameter of said apertures 33 and the inner, closed end of saidslot is curved to form ahalf circle concentric with said aperture 33.Slot 42 is arc-shaped in part and straight in part. Its

and to the width of slot 4I.

straight fportion lies parallel with slot 4l.' Its arc-shaped portionregisters with, and corresponds in lall other respects to, thatarc-shaped slot 34 which lies adjacentthe last mentioned aperture 33.

Afxed to one side of guide plate II, adjacent its frontedge, is a leafspring 43. Said spring does not obstruct passage through either of slots4I and 42.

Locking plate I2 is also a piece of sheet metal whose dimensions enableit to t snugly into the center compartment of the housing, on a planeparallel with the planes of ceiling 22, door 24 and guide plate II. itsrear edge, -with a pair of projections 50 which correspond in size andlocation to rear wall notches 38. At its front edge it is provided withan apertured projection 5I ilanked by a pair of projections 52.Projections 5I and 52 when bent upward on the dotted line53,.correspond,. re-

spectively, in shape, size and location, to depres-V The inner, closedends of said slots form half.

circles which are concentric with said apertures The swinging member ofthe hinge comprisesa U or box-shaped body o-r housing 60 which may bebent out of a rectangularpiece of sheet metal. The width and height ofthe body correspond, ordinarily, to the width and height of the fixedmember of the hinge. Apertures 6I are formed in said body to accommodatescrews (not shown) for afxing to the door 62. A

Extending outwardly from the yoke lportion of said U shaped body, eitheraixed thereto or integral therewith, is a hook-shaped arm 6,3 which lieson a plane perpendicular to the planes of the yoke and arm members ofsaid U shaped body. Said hook-shaped arm is of a thickness that enablesit, together with guide plate II and lock. ing plate I2, to fit into themiddle compartment of the housing. n

At the end of the hook portion proper of said hook-shaped arm, at adistance from the` yoke portion greater than the length of slot 4I, isafiixed a pintle B4 whose axis is perpendicular to the plane of saidhook-shaped arm. The pintle has a base portion 65 which projects belowthe hook-shaped arm, the diameter of said base portion corresponding tothe diameter of aperture 30 Above the hookshaped arm, the pintle has astem portion 66 and above that, a head portion 61. The diameter of thestem corresponds to the width of slots 55as well as to the width of theshank portion 3| of the keyhole-shaped apertures 29. Thediameter of thehead corresponds to the width of base portion 32 of the keyhole-shapedapertures 29.

Projecting downwardly from said hook-shaped arm is a small combinationguide and check-member 10, said check member vbeing spaced from pintle64 substantially the same distance therefrom in the direction away fromsaid U 'shaped body, as separates the arc-shaped slots 34 from Lockingplate I2 is provided, at

the circular apertures 33. The thickness of said check membercorresponds to the width of slots 34 and 42.

The hinge is installed as follows: A recess is provided in the door jambto accommodate the middle compartment of the xed member of the hinge,including its walls, ceiling and door. The upper and lower compartmentsreceive corresponding parts of the door jamb. The entire housing isaixed to said door jamb by means of screws inserted into apertures 21.The swinging member of the hinge is axed to the door in much the samemanner. The U shaped body accommodates a corresponding part of the doorand screws iix it thereto through apertures 6 I.

The device is assembled as follows: The guide plate I I is inserted intothe middle compartment of the housing, its projectings 40 entering theapertures 31 in the vrear wall 23 of lsaid compartment. ,The hook-shapedarm is now inserted into said compartment, above said guide plate, thebase portion 65 of the pintle entering slot 4I the stem portion 65entering the shank portion 3I of one of the keyhole-shaped apertures,the head portion 61 entering the base portion 32 of said aperture andthe guide member 1I) entering slot 42. When the closed end of slot 4I isreached by the base portion of the pintle, said base portion drops intothe particular circular aperture v33 which said slot 4I exposes. Thensimultaneously, the check member 'I0 drops into the adjacent of theslots 34. The locking lplate is now inserted into the same middlecompartment, above said hookshaped arm. One of the two slotsl 55receives the stem portion 66. The projections vSilenter the notches 38in the back wall 23, the projections 52 enter the base portions 32 ofsaid keyholeshaped apertures, and the projection 5I enters thedepression 35.` A screw 'II engages aperture 36' through aperture 54 andfixes the locking plate in place in the housing. 'I'he leaf spring 43forces the two plates and the hookshaped arm into pressure engagementwith eachother and with ceiling 22. v

The hinge is now ready for use. To reverse the direction` in which themovable member of the hinge is to swing, guiding plate II is turnedupside down. The slot.42 is thereby caused to register with the other ofthe two slots 34 and the swinging member is ready 4to swing intheopposite direction. First, however, the swinging member must be turnedupside down and the pintle and check member removed and similarly.

.turned upside down in respect to the hook-shaped arm and re-insertedtherein.v Atthis point, it should be noted that the pintle and checkmember may be removably iixed in said hook-shaped arm, for this verypurpose of reversing the swinging direction of the swinging member and.with it, the door to which it is affixed. As a practical matter,however, once a hinge is set to swing in a certain direction, it israrely removed to reverse that direction. Hence, the pintle and checkmember maybe permanently iixed in thehookshaped arm at the time` ofmanufacture. The spring 43 may have to be affixed to the opposite sideof the guide plate II when said plate is turned upside down asaforesaid. When the check member 'I0 reaches the close ends of slots 34and 42 it checks further movement of the swinging member of the hingeinthe direction toward said closed ends The device hereinabove describedis but apre-4y ferred embodiment of the invention. Modifica-v ciplesthereof. Thus, although the device has been described throughout asbeing made of sheet metal, this need not necessarily be the case. It maybe cast into shape. A resilient member such as a rubber cushion, or atension member such as a steel spring might be introduced to cushion theimpact betweenthe check member 'ID and the closed ends of slots 34 and42. The guide plate l I and the locking plate I2 may be omitted fromthebasic structure, if it be desired to reduce it to its barest essentials.

I claim:

1. A door hinge consisting of a xed member and a swinging member, saidfixedmember comprising a housing including a pair of spaced horizontalplates forming a part thereof, a pair of spaced pintle seats formed inthe upper of said plates registering with a pair of spaced pintle seatsformed in the lower of said plates, a pair of arc-shaped guide slotsformed in the lower plate, concentric, respectively, with the pintleseats in said plate, and a reversible guide plate and a locking plateinserted between said first men" tioned plates, said swinging membercomprising a housing, a hook-shaped arm extending outwardly therefrom,and invertible pintle and door check members aiiixed to said arm,said'pintle being adapted to pivot in said `pintle seats, said checkmember being adapted to slide in said slots, said guide plate havingslots which guide said pintle and door check members respectively intosaid pintle seats and guide slots, said locking plate having slots whichare closed at one end, the pintle being held at said `closed end toprevent displacement thereof.

2. A door hinge consisting of a fixed member which is affixed to thedoor jamb and a swinging member which is affixed to the door, the fixedmember comprising a box-like housing having a plurality of compartmentswhich are open to the rear, and a compartment which is open to thefront, the rearwardly open compartments being adapted to receivecorresponding parts of the door jamb for aflixing thereto, thefrontwardly open compartment being adapted to receive a reversible guideplate, a locking plate, and part of said swinging member, the floor ofsaid compartment having a pair of spaced pintle seats and a pair ofarc-shaped slots formed therein, concentric, respectively, with saidpintle seats, the ceiling of said compartment having a pair of pintleseats formed therein in registration with the first mentioned pintleseats, the swinging member comprising a box-like housing having asingle, rearwardly opening compartment, said compartment being adaptedto receive a corresponding part of the door for afiixing thereto, ahook-shaped arm extending outwardly from said housing and being adaptedto enter the frontwardly open compartment of the iixed member, andinvertible pintle and door check members mounted in said arm, saidpintle being adapted to pivot in said pintle seats, said check memberbeing adapted to slide in said guide slots, said guide plate havingslots which guide said pintle and door check members respectively intosaid pintle seats and guide slots, said locking plate having slots whichare closed at one end, the pintle being held at said closed end toprevent displacement thereof.

3. A door hinge consisting of a fixed member and a swinging member, saidXed member comprising a housing including a pair of spacedhorizontalplates forming a part thereof, a pair of spaced pintle seatsformed in the upper of said plates registering with a pair of spacedpintle seats formed in the lower of said plates, a pair of arc-shapedguide slots formed in the lower plate, concentric, respectively, withthe pintle seats in said plate, a reversible guide plate having a pairof slots which expose either of said guide slots and the pintle seatwith which the exposed slot is concentric, a locking plate having a pairof parallel slots which are open atv one end and closed at the other endand register with the pintle seats, said locking plate being providedwith means to aiiix it to the housing of the iixed member, said guideand locking plates being inserted between said rst mentioned plates,said swinging member comprising a housing, a hookshaped arm extendingoutwardly therefrom, and invertible pintle and door check members aixedto said arm, said pintle being adapted to pivot in said pintle seats,said check member being and a swinging member, the fixed membercomprising a box-like housing having compartments which are open to therear and a compartment which is open to the front, the rear compartmentsbeing adapted to receive corresponding parts of the door jamb foraffxing thereto, the front compartment being adapted to receive areversible guide plate, a locking plate, and part of said swingingmember, the iioor of said front compartment having a pair of spacedpintle seats and a pair of arc shaped slots concentric with said pintleseats, the ceiling of said compartmentl having a pair of pintle seats inregistration with the first mentioned pintle seats, said guide platehaving a pair of slots which expose either of said arcshaped slots andthe pintle seat with which the exposed slot is concentric, said lockingplate having a pair of parallel slots which are open at one end andclosed at the other end and register with the pintle seats, said lockingplate being provided with means to a'ix it to the housing of the xedmember, the swinging member comprising a boxlike housing having a singlerearwardly open compartment, said compartment being adapted to receive acorresponding part of the door for axing thereto, a hook-shaped armextending outwardly from said housing and being adapted to enter thefront compartment of the fixed member, and invertible pintle and doorcheck members mounted in said arm, said pintle being adapted to pivot insaid pintle seats, said check member being adapted to slide in saidguide slots.

MICHAEL J. ECONOMIDES.

